[[PennyArcade http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Cowboid_0.png]]
[[caption-width:239:As it Happens, with Randy Pinkwood]]

->''They should have just called the game 'Boo! Haunted House!', which is probably what they originally had in mind, until they thought, '[[DolledUpInstallment No, wait! Make it about Freddy!]]''\\
-- '''TheAngryVideoGameNerd''', reviewing ''ANightmareOnElmStreet [[[TheProblemWithLicensedGames The Video Game]]([[TradeSnark tm]]), obviously]''

This is when [[{{Sequelitis}} certain]] kinds of [[AdaptationDecay decay]] are so overt and so prevalent in a work that the ''only thing'' actually tying it to the franchise is the title.

Occasionally this will expand to include the names of the character(s), setting, whatever. But the point is, you wonder why they ever bothered with borrowing the material in the first place if they felt the need to change ''everything.''

This generally happens for one of three different reasons. TheyJustDidntCare. ExecutiveMeddling. Or it's a DolledUpInstallment; the work in question was originally intended as something completely different, but since is was slightly similar to an existing franchise, it was changed to fit in that franchise, whether to avoid liability or just to cash in. In extreme cases, a {{Macekre}} can result in this. Since titles cannot be copyrighted in common-law countries (including the US, Canada, and the UK), the project may not have any relation to a famous predecessor.

A CookieCutterFic is FanFic that belongs to its fandom InNameOnly.

InNameOnly can happen to just parts of a story. You can have a FanFic that would be OriginalFlavor if only that PossessionSue hadn't been the character InNameOnly. Or you can have an original work that, thanks to especially bad CaliforniaDoubling and CriticalResearchFailure, is in Chicago or New York or Britain InNameOnly.

Compare NonindicativeName, DolledUpInstallment.

Contrast SerialNumbersFiledOff.
----
[[foldercontrol]]

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The anime ''{{Lensman}}'' OVA; it was closer to ''StarWars'' than anything in the books. Note that there is also a TV anime adaptation of ''Lensman'' which is slightly more faithful.
* This was the point of ''GalaxyAngel'', which turned a SpaceOpera into a GagSeries when the first game was delayed. See WriterRevolt.
** Even this trope has cases of TropesAreNotBad, as many ended up ''preferring'' the anime to the original games, and it never switched back.
* ''IdolmasterXenoglossia'' retains *some* of the characters' personalities from the original videogame, but changes... well, everything else. This troper was ''just'' a little upset that his favourite character went from "serious and quiet" to "absolute psychopath".
** "{{Yandere}}", more specifically.
* This is a frequent complaint when manga gets adapted into anime. Sometimes, the resulting show will have the character's names and designs and little else (and sometimes not even that). To be fair, this may be because the anime OvertookTheManga, and the manga ended up going in an entirely different direction. [[DannyLilithborne This troper]] often hears this about ''SailorMoon'', especially its final season which has almost nothing of the original plot of the manga.
** And let's not even get started on ''ExcelSaga'' and its anime adaptation. Read the manga, then watch the anime, then try and tell me the two are the same.
*** Although ExcelSaga's example was completely intentional, as the author mocks ''everything''.
* The manga ''BlueDragon Ral Grad'' has nothing in common with the ''BlueDragon'' video game or anime series, except for the presence of LivingShadow BondCreatures which themselves are very different in nature between sources.
* ''{{Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl}}'''s anime version is pretty much in name only from the manga due to the number of drastic [[AdaptationDecay changes]]. The only real things similar are the characters, beginning storyline and characters relations to each other, and even then relations are changed sort of. [[spoiler: For example, in the anime, Yasuna tries to avoid Hazumu as much as possible, and shows great dislike and jealousy to Tomari This is not present at all in the manga. Quite the opposite actually; She confesses to Hazumu after he changes into a girl, spends a lot more time with her then Tomari and wants to be friends with Tomari. She also seems to be quite afraid of boys in the anime, but just doesn't pay any attention to them in the manga]].
* ''HowlsMovingCastle'' is a completely different creature (literally) in the film than in the book. There are some things kept in common, but for the most part the book and movie cannot be compared with one another. The general consensus is that both are equally awesome.
** That consensus includes the author of the book, OrSoIHeard.
*** Diane Wynne Jones in fact has stated she was aware of how different Miyazaki's adaptation was going to be.
* ''TalesFromEarthsea'' by the same studio, however, went completely different than ''HowlsMovingCastle'', at least in terms of how the author (Ursula [=LeGuin=]) reacted to it. The film, like the other one, only really borrowed a few ideas from the ''Earthsea'' books and made something completely different. [=LeGuin=] was ''not'' amused, meanwhile.
** One suspects this is more indicative of the personality differences between Jones and [=LeGuin=] than the treatments given to their respective novels. Note that Eiko Kodono also cried AdaptationDecay when she first saw the film version of KikisDeliveryService but changed her mind later.
* Many think of GGundam as an example of this. The rest of the {{Gundam}} series is a series of RealRobot wars while this one is just one big SuperRobot TournamentArc. Not that it wasn't awesome.
* ''Hades Project Zeorymer'' - Originally a {{hentai}} manga. The title mech and the name of a female character are the only thing the manga and anime share.
* OsamuTezuka's manga ''Metropolis'' is literally and intentionally an InNameOnly counterpart to the silent film. Tezuka came up with the idea for his story after seeing a single still image of the movie's famous robot woman, then used the title because he thought it sounded cool. The later anime movie is arguably an InNameOnly adaptation of ''both'' the movie and the manga, essentially combining the two vastly different works and bearing little resemblance to either one.
* Ninjas are generally recognized quiet, sneaky, underhanded assassins/bodyguards that operate in the shadows and tend to operate in secrecy and subtlety. The ninjas of the {{Naruto}} world...[[HighlyVisibleNinja not so much.]] In fact, pretty much every ninja depicted in anime (and most media for that matter) is no where near what real ninjas were like. This applies even when discounting the near-supernatural attributes given to them. Despite the black garb so deeply associated with ninjas in such depictions, there is no written evidence for such a costume. Instead, it was much more common for ninjas to be disguised as civilians. The popular notion of black clothing is likely rooted in artistic convention since early drawings of ninjas were shown to be dressed in black in order to portray a sense of invisibility. This was borrowed from the puppet handlers of bunraku theater, who dressed in total black in an effort to simulate props moving independently of their controls.
** They're ''[[NinjaZombiePirateRobot magic]]'' [[NinjaZombiePirateRobot ninjas]] [[WildMassGuessing maybe]]?

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* When VertigoComics publish a series that shares a name with a DCComics property, that, and a few loose concepts, will be ''all'' it shares (unless it's Animal Man or Swamp Thing). The most extreme example was ''Beware The Creeper!'' which was about a 1920s Parisian surrealist who wore a costume vaguely similar to Jack Ryder's.
* This trope is a deliberate unifying premise in DC's "Tangent Comics" line. Unlike Elseworlds, which is a re-imagining of a DC character that usually retains most of the core elements, Tangent attaches the existing names to completely different characters with different powers, costumes, origins, appearances, and personalities. Usually, the only common element is that they're metahumans in a modern setting.
* Brazil's [[http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/luluzinhateen002.jpg apparently]] made an {{Animesque}} ''LittleLulu'' spin off of sorts where the characters in question are teens. The core characters of the cast seem to have been changed as well. Teen!Lulu's apparently the leader of a clique composed of Tubby, who has been slimmed down and left his violin to lead a rock band; Annie, the gang’s geek and a videogame freak; Gloria, the fashion expert; and Alvin, who has become a skater and surfer.
* ''All Star Batman and Robin'' has a Batman who acts so out ouf character that [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] dubbed him "BINO" ('''B'''atman '''I'''n '''N'''ame '''O'''nly), and later "Crazy Steve"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* The ''StuartLittle'' movies. The books were set in the late 1940s, Stuart was born from a human mother rather than adopted, and only the boat race in the first movie bears any resemblance to the events of the book.
* The ''IRobot'' movie, which was actually started as a completely unrelated script named ''Hardwired'' until the studio got the rights to the book and decided to use the name. They also included very nearly every action and line of dialogue from ''Robot Dreams'', an Asimov short that was published decades after ''I, Robot'' itself. Ironically, the movie may have been more popular if it was released as ''Hardwired'': while hardly {{Shakespeare}}, it was smarter than your average action movie.
** The movie credits say that the movie is "suggested by", rather than "based on", the book.
** Asimov's ''I, Robot'' is itself an example of the trope, that having originally been the title of an unrelated story by Eando Binder. Asimov's original title for the compilation was ''Mind and Iron'', and he was reportedly appalled when he found that his publisher had changed the title. (This happened a lot to Asimov - the first magazine print of ''Robbie'' was titled, to his dismay, ''Strange Playfellow''.)
*** On the other hand, Asimov was thrilled when an editor changed a title to "Buy Jupiter!", since he could never resist a pun.
*** Like the movie, the Binder short story (and ''TheOuterLimits'' episode adapting it) centered around a robot accused of murdering its creator. And, appropriately enough considering the trope, that's ''all'' they have in common.
* The ''StarshipTroopers'' movie, which was really more of a TakeThat against the original book than an adaptation. It's not even a horribly-executed TakeThat -- the producers [[DolledUpInstallment bought the rights to the original after the script was written]].
* ''TheLawnmowerMan'' has nothing to do with StephenKing's short story of the same name. They had the gall, originally, to call it ''[[InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt Stephen King's]] The Lawnmower Man'' anyway, and he successfully sued to get his name taken out of the title. The short story is about a creepy satyr who mows lawns. The movie is about a mentally deficient gardener who has his brain transplanted into cyberspace and becomes a god of computers. This was probably for the better.
** Of course, they've already made [[ManosTheHandsOfFate a movie about a creepy satyr caretaker]], and everyone knows how ''that'' went...
** Torgo didn't mow lawns.
*** Ah, but did he not take care while the Master was away?
* ''TheDarkIsRising'' movie. We could [[{{Americanitis}} fill]] [[FollowTheLeader the]] [[TheyJustDidntCare page]], but let's just direct you to [[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/The_Seeker__The_Dark_is_Rising_2007.aspx The Agony Booth review]] instead.
** It doesn't even have the same name!
* The films of ''Film/TheBourneSeries'' have nothing whatsoever to do with [[Literature/TheBourneSeries Ludlum's novels]], aside from the name of the main character and his amnesia. They cut out the primary villain (since Carlos the Jackal is just a teensy bit in prison at the moment), changed the time to present day, completely changed the backstory behind Bourne's skills, changed the last name, nationality, profession (and, in the second film, lifespan) of his love interest... The movies are generally considered ''good'', mind you (especially the first one). They're just... expect to be disoriented if you read the books afterward.
* ''TheRunningMan'' says "Based on the novel by Richard Bachman" in the opening credits, and this is the last time anything resembling the book is mentioned. Indeed, it has far more in common with an earlier Robert Scheckley short story entitled "The Seventh Victim", but presumably, Scheckley's relatively-obscure name wouldn't sell as many tickets as the Stephen King pseudonym.
** This leads to an interesting copy right problem. The german movie "Das Millionen Spiel" (The Million (money) Game", is a far more faithfull addaption to the book. However because of having only bought the rights for the book and not for a movie based on the book, the movie was for a long time forbidden to be shown in german television or being sold. It was so far only shown 3 times (note that the movie is from the 70's).
* The ''{{Godzilla}}'' movie starring Matthew Broderick. The monster in that movie was even called "GINO" (for Godzilla In Name Only) by {{kaiju}} fans before being given the official moniker of "Zilla" by Toho (because they felt he took the "God" out of "Godzilla") and brutally beaten up by the real Godzilla in ''Godzilla: Final Wars'' ("I knew that tuna-eating monster would be useless..."). The only similarities between the US and Japanese films is that both are about [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant reptiles]] of some kind doing things in a city.
** It [[http://www.kaijuphile.com/rodansroost/scrapyard/godzillavsgryphon.shtml wasn't always like that]], though...
** In a strange case of AdaptationDistillation the [[AnimatedAdaptation animated]] spinoff, ''GodzillaTheSeries'', was more faithful to the latter incarnations of the original Godzilla as a protector of mankind. "[[FanNickname Toonzilla]]" was far more [[ImmuneToBullets immune]] to human (and alien) weapons than GINO and regularly battled other {{Kaiju}}, advanced technological constructs, and aliens. Also, he had the ability to shoot "atomic breath" much like the original Godzilla, a trait Zilla distinctly lacked. Consequently, it was [[MorePopularSpinoff better loved]] by classic Gozilla fans than the American movie upon which it is based. Even Toho itself liked the series so much that they called Toonzilla by the affectionate nickname of Godzilla Jr.
* ''[[JamesBond The Spy Who Loved Me]]'', as we've mentioned elsewhere, had to be done this way; Ian Fleming disliked the book, and refused to allow them to use the storyline.
** Many Bond movies have nothing to do with the story they're named after. There must be a few that do...
*** I've only read a few, and haven't hit a single Bond novel that resembled the movie it shares a name with. The book and movie for ''[[JamesBond The Man With the Golden Gun]]'' share only Bond and a gun, that's gold.
*** ''From Russia, With Love'' is one of the closest adaptations. It is considered one of the best Bond movies, if not ''the'' best. I guess the executives forgot about that correlation afterward.
*** ''Casino Royale'' is apparently very close to the book, aside from the modernization and switch to poker from baccarat. It's the best Bond movie in my opinion, too.
*** "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" follows the book pretty closely, "Goldfinger" isn't too unfaithful either. Thunderball's faithfulness is explained by the book being originally envisioned as a script.
* Most [[VideoGameMoviesSuck video game movies]]. The ''SuperMarioBros'' [[Film/SuperMarioBros movie]] skirts this, as does anything by UweBoll. With the exception of ''{{Postal}}'', which is just as [[DeadBabyComedy gross, warped, and irreverent]] as the ''Postal'' games, if not more so.
** The one that embodies this trope is ''FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin''. The ''FinalFantasy'' games all take place in different worlds (save for direct sequels), but they all have shared elements (especially once some are established). This didn't have any of those elements. It doesn't even have Cid, just a guy whose name is a homonymn. But what makes it the embodiment is that Square themselves worked on the movie, including HironobuSakaguchi directing it. Yes, even the very creators can fall victim to this trope.
*** Wait, what? The Doctor is called Sid. Although it is spelled differently, it was intended to follow this tradition. Also, if we compare the movie to the most popular FF game (VII), we have the theme of industrial action harming Gaia, the planet's life force, which is just like TheLifestream in FFVII.
**** If you go by the original Japanese language version, Dr. Sid's name is actually Shido, like every incarnation of Cid in Final Fantasy that isn't actually named Cidolfus.
*** And the monsters were [[spoiler: ghosts]] just like in FFX.
* The ''{{Catwoman}}'' movie, which dumped the original character for a cheap rip-off of TheCrow.
* The movie ''BladeRunner'', while a fine and excellent movie, took the title of one book (The Bladerunner by Alan E. Nourse) and slapped it on a movie made from a completely different story (Philip K. Dick's ''Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'').
** ''Very'' loosely based on the novel, in fact, except for a few names and concepts like the robotic animals that the movie borrowed, everything else differs from the novel.
* {{Andre Norton}}'s ''The Beast Master'' series tell the story of retired veteran Hosteen Storm, an American Indian in the far future who was recruited into an elite commando force, the titular Beast Masters, which were telepathically bonded to a team of genetically enhanced animals (a horse, tiger, pair of ferrets and hawk in Storm's case) to fight an interstellar war. With Earth destroyed on the way to a costly victory, he is discharged with honors to seek his fate and sort out his life on a distant colony world. It's been adapted to other media a number of times... In a manner of speaking:
** Three films were made, recasting him as Dar, a MightyWhitey blond He Man knock-off with telepathically linked animal companions in a generic HighFantasy setting. While a box-office bomb, the first film was actually pretty good for what it was and received a [[VindicatedByCable cult following on TV]]. The other two were pretty awful though (the second deserves special derision for its RefugeeFromTVLand plot).
** A SciFi Original Series was made, seemingly through direct PopCulturalOsmosis from the films.
** By the way, WHY did they change the plot? Just read the above paragraph. Doesn't it sound like a pretty cool movie? You don't have to change a thing to make it successful.
*** You must remember the 80s. There were half-naked guys in loincloths all over the place. This was the age of ''Conan'', ''Masters of the Universe'', ''Blackstar'' (who [=might've=] been an Indian), ''Thundarr'', and so on. And [=it's=] totally not gay to enjoy looking at half-naked guys in loincloths showing off their muscles. Not gay at all.
* RogerZelazny's 1969 ''Damnation Alley'' was set in a post-apocalyptic Nation of California in which the aftereffects of WWIII twenty years ago have spiraled way beyond nuclear winter to bring the entire earth to the [[ApocalypseHow brink of death]], including continuous several hundred mile an hour winds that continually roar by about 500 feet above the ground to produce a blanket of radioactive rubble and garbage mixed with the contents of a good part of the world's oceans (which regularly results in a shower of horribly mutated sealife raining down to feed the giant abominations that dominate the land) in the sky. The story follows a HeroicSociopath (the last living Hell's Angel) who has been forced into a lone suicidal medicine delivery mission through the inland no-man's-land to the east coast as the result of a murder conviction.
** [[EscapeFromNewYork Call him... Snake]]
** The movie was instead set in a toned down version of this two years after the fireworks, with the protagonist recast as a soldier at a missile base in the desert. After braving some drunken hillbillies and rubber cockroaches to investigate a mysterious radio signal, he and his [[TheSquad squadmates]] discover a [[HiddenElfVillage completely untouched haven]] and live HappilyEverAfter. The film was the more strongly favored of two "Sci-Fi" films being made by Fox at the time. The other film was ''StarWars''; this one's budget was 1.54 times larger.
* Happens all the time with comic book movies. Given that ''{{Constantine}}'' doesn't even keep the ''{{Hellblazer}}'' title, you have to wonder why they bothered. The film's not too bad, but nobody would have even made the connection if the protagonist was renamed to James Diocletian or something.
** Believe it or not, it was changed due to the similarity of "Hellblazer" to "{{Hellraiser}}" (the comic was even going to have this name before Clive Barker released the movie).
* The opening credits to ''Adaptation'' list it as based on Susan Orlean's book ''The Orchid Thief'', to which it bears very little resemblance. But then, [[PostModernism that was the point of the movie]].
* The 1950's film version of ''Anything Goes'' bears next to no resemblance to the musical it's based on. Aside from five songs (sung in completely different contexts) and the fact that there's a boat (going to a different place), they may as well have called it something else and not stepped on anyone's toes.
** That's fairly standard AdaptationDecay compared to what happened to its SpiritualSuccessor, ''Red, Hot and Blue'', which lost ''all'' of its Cole Porter tunes (including hits such as "It's De-Lovely" and "Ridin' High") when it was filmed, OrSoIHeard.
* Both film versions of ''PlanetOfTheApes'' share nothing in common with the novel that inspired them except the existence of a planet ruled by intelligent apes with humans as savage animals. Both movies... well, ''ape'' the TwistEnding of the novel [[spoiler: the narrator returns to Earth after his voyage only to find that it too has been dominated by intelligent apes]], though in significantly different ways.
** Oddly, the third movie in the series, ''Escape from the Planet of the Apes'', is similar to that of the original novel (loosely), but with the roles of humans and apes reversed.
* The Natalie Wood romantic comedy ''Sex and the Single Girl'', though it references the original Helen Gurley Brown bestseller and its author, has nothing to do with the original, which was a ''self-help'' book.
** WoodyAllen performed a similar "adaptation" on the advice book ''Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex (But Were Afraid To Ask)''.
** And somehow the book ''Please Don't Eat The Daisies'', which was a collection of essays and articles, became a feature film starring Doris Day and David Niven.
** ''Rebel Without a Cause'' was named after a book by a psychiatrist. Otherwise, it has nothing to do with it.
** And more recently, both ''Fast Food Nation'' and ''He's Just Not That Into You'' were based on (successfull) non-fiction books, but has little in common with them other than being about fast food and relationships, respectively.
* There is the 1990 [[SoBadItsGood guilty pleasure]] film, ''{{Troll 2}}'', which is not related to the 1986 B-movie ''Troll''. Also, there are no trolls in this film (just goblins), nor is the word "troll" spoken once throughout the movie.
** ''Troll 2'' was followed by a ''further'' in-name-only sequel, ''Troll 3''. This one didn't have trolls '''or''' goblins, instead featuring the oh-so-terrifying menace of killer tree roots.
** There are actually two movies claiming the title of ''Troll 3''. They are called ''Crawlers: Troll 3'' (the aforementioned sequel), and the sword-and sorcery film, ''Troll 3: The Sword of Power'' (AKA ''Quest For The Mighty Sword''), both of which were directed by Joe D'Amato. The latter film DOES feature one of the goblin costumes from ''Troll 2''.
*** Four ''Troll'' movies, all of them having nothing to do with each other. What are the odds?
**** [[AllTrollsAreDifferent Pretty good, actually.]]
*** It's notable that only Troll 2 was made by the rights holders of the original, making it the only "official" sequel. Doesn't make it any better, though.
* The 2003 film ''TheItalianJob'' was fairly good, but any similarities to the 1969 film are closer to {{homage}}s than anything else.
* The classic RayBradbury short story, ''ASoundOfThunder'' and the film of the same title both involve time travelers accidentally altering the past while hunting a dinosaur -- and that's literally '''it'''. The movie even kills the concept the book was based on ''in the first five minutes''. That's like Marty getting run over by a semi before he can hit 88 MPH in the first ''BackToTheFuture''.
** [[TragicTheDragon This troper]] counts the original short story as the first sci-fi story that really blew her mind, and she recently had the (um) pleasure of catching the movie on cable. The best part is how, in the original story, the possible effects of the altered past are built up to be unspeakably disastrous during the course of the story. When the Time Safari does get back, however, everything is basically the same... [[spoiler:and then they notice the wonky spelling...]] The story's ending was apparently too subtle for Hollywood, so we got a city overgrown with jungle (it doesn't even [[ItMakesSenseInContext make sense in context]]) and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou crawling with killer baboon-things and sewer sharks]]. Oh, and there's also something about a catfish-man. [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs Of course]].
* The only thing the recent ''Cheaper By the Dozen'' movies have to do with the original ''Cheaper By the Dozen'' novels is that they are both about a family with twelve children.
* The ''{{Wanted}}'' film adaptation takes out 90% of the original background (no supervillains, no parallel-dimension robbing), and replaces it with a society of assassins [[WellIntentionedExtremist who kill people to save the world]]. It's not ''bad'', but the changes [[IncrediblyLamePun weren't particularly]] ''[[IncrediblyLamePun Wanted]]'' either.
** 90% is a ''remarkably'' low estimate, I can only remember 4 things that were kept the same: 1) His girlfriend is a cheating whore who does his "best" friend on an IKEA table he bought, 2) He kills people (With an entirely different motivation and degree of competence from the comics), 3) There's a "love" interest that plays a role (Though a completely different one), 4) His father has some significance for his live (See point 3). Given that 2-4 are so common you can expect at least 2 of them in just about any movie of almost all genres, and point 1 isn't even used for much of an effect in the movie. Considering that this results in a story that is only slightly less ridiculous than the comics while being far less over the top to compensate (Though still acceptable popcorn cinema) AND losing all of the message the original author intended, this troper finds the result somewhat grating (Even though generally not being much of a comic-nut and not particularly concerned with adaption decay as long as the movie is watchable).
* Aside from a few throwaway lines and other minor elements -- some of which don't actually match the game versions anyway (e.g. the beholders) -- the ''DungeonsAndDragons'' movie is nothing more than a generic (and not very good) fantasy movie with a famous brand name attached to it.
** The second, Sci-Fi Channel original movie, however, sticks much closer to the original game content, right down to mentioning established gods, demons, spells, monsters, and even having Gary Gygax involved.
* This Troper recently saw the trailer for the ''MaxPayne'' movie, and none of what he saw was in the videogame. Then again, he couldn't understand what the hell was going on.
** If it helps, This Troper recently saw the ''Max Payne'' movie, and still isn't quite sure he understands what the hell was going on.
*** For the record, the ''MaxPayne'' movie keeps the general concept of the games intact (rogue cop out for revenge) while making the story significantly less complicated (no specific frame job, and line between Max and his ultimate goal is much straighter). This isn't a bad thing.
**** Considering that that describes any movie with a cop as a main character that doesn't have two cops as main characters, it makes it the American Cheese Food Product of a movie.
**** Also Max only kills 4 people in the whole movie, all of which happen within seconds of each other. When the source material was all high adrenaline, gun-firing, pill-popping, explosionfests, and your movie has almost an entire 2 minutes of action in it, you didn't adapt it very well.
**** If they'd simply changed the names of the characters/drugs/the movie itself, it would have been a fine movie. But when you take an acceptable movie and compare it to a game that it's barely tied to at all, it makes it seem even worse.
* Similarly to the page image, [[http://cube.ign.com/articles/600/600860p1.html IGN once announced on April Fool's Day]] a ''{{Metroid}}'' movie... directed by UweBoll... produced by Troma... and set on Earth, with a plot similar to ''HalfLife''.
* The movie ''DoctorDolittle'', with EddieMurphy, is named after a literary character named Doctor Dolittle who talks to animals -- but beyond [[TheDoctorDolittle talking to animals itself]], the two productions have essentially nothing in common with each other. The book is set in Britain somewhen in the past, the movie is set in the USA of today. The main character got a RaceLift. And that's just the beginning.
* The NostalgiaChick, in her review of the ''{{Bratz}}'' film admits that it's only really about the toy line InNameOnly. But then again, considering the source material was just about implied attitudes (How the dolls they were based off of really were was up to the person who was playing with them) and what kind of setting they existed in other than Generic High...well, let's just say they ''really'' didn't have much to go on.
* The "remake" of ''Day of the Dead'' is nothing like the original except for being a zombie movie.
* The recent movie ''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button'' only takes the basic premise and title from the F. Scott Fitzgerald story that it is based on. While the former is a good MagicRealism drama by itself, the latter is mostly a comic farce.
* StanleyKubrick's version of ''TheShining'' uses the basic premise of the book, but not much else. [[spoiler: He has no problem killing off the ostensible hero, for instance, or leaving the hotel intact to trap more people.]] Still a good film, though.
* ''IAmLegend''. The original ending would've given it some connection with the book it was apparently based on, but that was changed too... now the only thing they have in common is a disease that turns people into monsters. And even then they didn't get it quite right. In the new movie it's a virus, but in the old book, it was a type of bacteria.
** Of course, the film ''I Am Legend'' isn't a FilmOfTheBook so much as a remake of the film ''The Omega Man'', which is ''itself'' an InNameOnly adaptation of the book ''I Am Legend''... Except for the name, of course.
* Quite a few supposedly "[[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory based on a true story]]" movies fit this trope -- ''The Exorcism of Emily Rose'' springs to mind. I'd include ''The Amityville Horror'', but the "true" events of that one [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie were something of a hoax anyway]].
* The sequel to ''TheBlairWitchProject'', ''Book Of Shadows'', is actually about some dorks, inspired by the previous (and acknowledged as fictional) film, trying to find the witch for themselves. [[MindScrew Mind Screwiness]], [[FanService naked breasts]], [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic random owl "symbolism"]], and [[{{Horrible/Film}} suckiness]] ensued.
* The ''{{Underdog}}'' [[TheMovie Movie]]: let's see, CharacterDerailment, Plot Derailment, [[TheyJustDidntCare Source Material Derailment]]... hell, let's just chalk this up to ''Everything'' Derailment!
* The Russian UrbanFantasy movie based on the book ''NightWatch'', itself titled ''Night Watch'', was faithful to the book, except for the depth of the story, the ending and [[spoiler: the fact that in the book Anton and Yegor are unrelated and Anton never went to that old witch]]. But the book is divided in three stories, and only the first was made into the movie ''Night Watch''. The second movie, ''Day Watch'' was completely unrelated to the book of the same name: it was a completely new story with the beginning taken from the second story of the book ''Night Watch'' and some elements from the third one (namely, the magic chalk).
* ''{{Home Alone}}'' 3 has little to do continuity-wise with the previous films; Kevin's been replaced with an {{Expy}}, Alex. The only true connections it has to the previous films are the plot, being set in the Chicago area, and its writer and producer, JohnHughes. Understandable, though, since Macaulay Culkin was 17 at the time. ''Home Alone 4'', which Hughes had nothing to do with, was also like this, but in a different way. Kevin and the other original characters were brought back, but [[TheOtherDarrin were all recast]], looking and acting almost nothing like their original selves.
* The {{Deadpool}} featured in ''[[Film/{{Wolverine}} X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'' is this, to the point of being {{fan nickname}}d DINO or Dudepeel. To put this more specifically, the film has Wade Wilson as basically a sane version of Deadpool, wisecracking, badass but without the awareness or healing factor. Then he is later converted into Weapon XI AKA "Deadpool" (a "pool of dead people's powers"; unlike the comic version, named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_pool the bet on who'd die last]]), who has no mouth and AllYourPowersCombined. But he might have salvation - not only a Deadpool movie was greenlighted by Fox, also in one of {{the stinger}}s that appear depending on your screening, [[spoiler: Weapon XI grabs his decapitated head, [[NoFourthWall who shushes the audience]], in the style of the fourth-wall breaker of the comics.]]
* Hitchcock's suspense classic ''TheBirds'' was inspired by a Daphne du Maurier short story of the same name. The only thing they have in common is that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin there are birds]] and they attack people.
* ''DragonballEvolution''. AdaptationDecay doesn't even cover it all.
* ''{{Halloween}} III: Season of the Witch'' abandoned the [[CompleteMonster Michael Myers]] storyline in favor of one involving an insane Irish toymaker and his army of evil killer robots trying to take over the world (or something) using Stonehenge and rigged Halloween masks that make the wearers' head explode into a writhing mound of insects and snakes if they watch a certain commercial. It bombed horribly and the idea of turning ''Halloween'' into an anthology series was dropped, with Michael coming back in the next installment.
** It's notable that the anthology part was the ''original concept'', it's just that the Michael Myers part ended up lasting two movies.
** The only reason that Halloween was not turned into a series of unrelated events was because the third film did badly. The Myers story was told completely within the first two films, then they moved on. It was intended to be like a bigscreen, adult Goosebumps, with a new story every year. But people responded to Myers' films better than they did to Season of the Witch, so the film makers decided that Myers should return. At one point, they also intended on having Jamie become the antagonist, but dropped it.
* The fourth and fifth entries in the ''SilentNightDeadlyNight'' are unrelated to the previous three movies, which features an AxeCrazy family of [[BadSanta Santa]] imposters. The fourth film is almost unrelated to Christmas and involves some kind of ancient Egyptian witch cult and the fifth has [[LivingToys evil toys]] connected to an enigmatic toymaker by the name of [[IncrediblyLamePun Joe Petto]]. The films have homages to the original three though, with scenes of them being briefly shown on televisions and the villains dressing up as Santa at least once.
* The second ''PromNight'' has no connection to the first outside the setting. Likewise, the fourth is unconnected to the previous three outside a brief appearance by Hamilton High. The remake is similar to the original in only the most basic sense, [[StalkerWithACrush having a different story]] all together.
* ''I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer'', the third installment in the ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' franchise has only the thinnest of links with the first two films; not only does it not have any of the original characters it turns into an outright supernatural horror [[spoiler: the killer is an evil ghost!]]
** But [[spoiler: the ghost was the killer from the original movies, so there's that...]]
** Mind you, none of the movies have anything to do with the original book. Whether this is AdaptationDecay or AdaptationDistillation depends on whether you think baling hooks are cooler than pistols . . .
*''Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas'' is perhaps the most pure example of this trope: NOTHING in the movie even vaguely resembles the original 'Adventures of Sinbad the Sailor' except for the fact that Sinbad in the movie is an adventurer with a ship. If the main character had gone by any other name, the movie would have been rather creative and original. With the name, it's just plain confusing to anyone who's read the stories and detracts from the movie as a whole.
* ''The Never Ending Story'' The third movie shares no plot at all with the book. The only element from the book it uses that wasn't in the first two movies is the Old Man of Wandering Mountain - and in a very different context.
* The movie version of ''EllaEnchanted'' had almost nothing in common with the actual book other than character names and the curse on the main character.
** Can you say, {{Disneyfication}}?
* Pedro Almovadar's movie 'Live Flesh' was supposedly based on a novel of the same name by Ruth Rendell. Both featured a police crippled by a shot from a criminal who, when released from prison has an affair with the policeman's partner.......and that's it.
* ''Death Sentence'' the film has a different story, focused on a PapaWolf VigilanteMan going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, as opposed to the original novel, which was a sequel to the ''Death Wish'' novel. Author Brian Garfield has stated that despite the differences, the film still did get the novel's point across.
* For that matter, ''DeathWish'' the film's supposed glorification of vigilantism goes against the intended message of the novel.
* ''Shrek'' and all its sequels, though it is [[PragmaticAdaptation entirely justified]] - the William Steig novelty childrens story that inspired the series would barely have stretched to a five minute short.
* The Kevin Costner movie of David Brin's very fine novel ''The Postman'' is barely recognisable (starting with the fact the movie is not so 'very fine'). The scene where the main character discovers the postman's uniform is pretty much the only scene from the book to make it into the movie. Otherwise the main character and his motivation is completely different (in the book he's much less of an obvious white-hat), the love interest is completely different, the villain is completely different (in the book being a genetically-enhanced warrior, in the movie just a weird guy with a beard), there is a second 'hero' who doesn't appear at all in the movie and there is an interesting subplot about a super-powerful AI that is guiding a remote village of survivors back to civilisation that isn't even mentioned in the film. The author's reaction to the film was apparently to agree that the main theme of the book was vaguely in place in the film and then run all the way to the bank.
* ''MenInBlack'': The first five minutes of the first movie is a faithful reproduction of the first few pages of the first issue of the comic. After that, they have almost nothing in common.
* There's a movie called ''Watcher in the Woods'' and there's a book called ''Watcher in the Woods''. The claim has been made that one was based on the other...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Many fans of the original ''BattlestarGalactica'' referred to the most recent TV remake as GINO ("Galactica In Name Only"), although the term's become less prevalent as the show's grown more popular and widely accepted. In the second season, Ron Moore included a Number Six Cylon named "Gina", a feminized version of the acronym, as a playful jab at the fans.
** The new series' highly fandom-shattering and contentious conclusion has seen a resurgence of the original series fans, who were rather unseemingly gleeful over the new series' descent in insanity with the last few episodes, especially as the original BSG ended with the utterly unsalvageable ''Galactica 1980'', which makes the new series' ending look like a work of genius in comparison.
* The series ''{{Poltergeist The Legacy}}'' shares nothing in common with its namesake, the ''{{Poltergeist}}'' films.
* ''MadTV'' bears no resemblance at all to the magazine that is its namesake. For the first few seasons, there were ''Spy vs Spy'' cartoons in every episode, but now that those have been removed.
* The old Japanese live-action ''SpiderMan'' show. He looked like Spider-Man and had the same powers, but he was more of an early [[PowerRangers Power Ranger]] than a comic book superhero. He had a ''henshin'' device (that's morpher in America), a Spider car (technically the comic had one too, but it was totally different and short lived), his webshooters were voice activated (he would shout ''Spider String!'') and last but not least, he had a ''HumongousMecha''. Yeah. Imagine Peter "constantly strapped for cash" Parker being able to to buy, repair, refuel and run general maintenance on a robot the size of a skyscraper.
** The success of this version of Spider-Man lead to a rush of [[SuperSentai live-action giant robot shows]] in Japan, as well as the famous Megazords of Power Rangers fame.
** Looked like a Power Ranger, nothing. The series actually ''replaced'' SuperSentai, the show that is adapted into Power Rangers, for a year in the same timeslot.
*** It predated Super Sentai, so Super Sentai is actually a descendant.
** Never the less, Stan Lee was actually involved in the production, and has said several times that he thought the series was excellent, even praising its creativity (and thus its deviance from the character ''he created''). There's an interview with him on the Japanese DVD box set.
* A almost-was case; in the 1980s, an American production company approached John Cleese with the intention of remaking ''FawltyTowers'' for an American audience. When he asked them about it, they told him they'd only made one slight change from the original; they'd removed the character of Basil Fawlty. The ''main'' character.
* ''FridayThe13thTheSeries'' was unrelated to the [[FridayThe13th film series]], and despite common rumor there were never any plans to have Jason appear on the show. The films get a small ShoutOut in the episode "Crippled Inside" though, where the song the rocker chick from ''Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan'' plays on her guitar can be heard on the radio.
* The 2001 revival of ''CardSharks'' had contestants predict whether cards were higher or lower than each other...but other than that? Where were the survey questions? The second player's row of cards? And what the hell are Clip Chips?!!?
* ''TheElectricCompany'' It's 2009 "revival" has almost NOTHING in common with it's predecessor but it's name! Bad enough they threw in a they fight crime with superpowers motif, that has little, if ANYTHING to do with phonics, but they even ruined the SOFTSHOE SILHOUETTES!! One even bothers why they even CALL it The Electric Company!
* As the series went on ''Series/RobinHood'' kept moving further and further away from its source material. By the time Tuck shows up (black, fit, not a Friar and pontificating on the "idea of Robin Hood" instead of spiritual matters) you begin to wonder what the point was.
* Merlin. Take everything you thought you knew about Arthurian Legend and throw it out the window. Arthur is a Prince right from the start, there's a dragon under the castle, Merlin is Arthur's servant who is around his age rather than much older, magic is outlawed, Morgana is not a villain, Gwen is dark-skinned... shall I go on?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Some ProfessionalWrestling fans refer to {{WWE}}'s {{ECW}} revival as ECW In Name Only, due to the fact that it seems completely opposite from the old ECW in terms of atmosphere, storyline tone, wrestling style, and talent level. Others [[DisContinuity don't even give it that level of respect]].
** WWECW is another popular name for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Variant: Much like what ''TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' mentioned above, there really are video game adaptations where a developer takes a license, takes an existing game, and just changes sprites in the original game based off the license. (Ironically, this did ''not'' apply to the ''Nightmare on Elm Street'' game.)
* When Data East picked up the license to ''The Real Ghostbusters'', all they did with it was take the Japanese arcade game ''Maze Hunter G'' and replace the heroes and powerups with ''Ghostbusters''-related themes, before releasing it to the States. Nothing else in the game involves the Ghostbusters.
* ''Yo! Noid'' for the NES is based on the Japanese game ''Masked Ninja Hanamaru'', which involved children being kidnapped from around an island and a kid ninja setting out to save them with the help of his pet eagle. And yes, he wore a mask.
* Famously, the Western version of ''SuperMarioBros 2'' was actually originally a totally unrelated game called ''Doki Doki Panic'' ("doki doki" being Japanese for the sound of a rapid heartbeat, so "heart-pounding panic" is probably the best translation.) with sprites, sounds, etc., changed to Mario-fy it. The original ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' would remain unknown in the US until it was released as "''Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels.''", as part of the ''Super Mario All-Stars'' anthology. However, ''SMB 2'' is not considered AdaptationDecay: it was actually quite good and a great many of the ''Doki Doki Panic'' monsters and abilities (carrying object) are now staples in Mario productions (as much as some longtime Mario fans may still point at the game and shout, "TheyChangedItNowItSucks").
* Way, way back in the waning days of the Atari 2600, Atari changed their unreleased game ''Saboteur'' into a licensed game of ''TheATeam'' by changing around some text and replacing the hero sprite with... Mr. T's disembodied head. (The result was also unreleased.)
** "I pity the fool that doesn't like Mister T's game!"
* Opinion is divided as to whether ''CommandAndConquer Generals'' fits this trope or not. While a good game in its own right, it's noticeably lacking in the ''C&C'' series' hallmarks, being closely based on EA's earlier ''Battle for Middle Earth'' and as such more similar in style to one of Blizzard's -craft games. Rumors abound of ''Generals'' being created as a bit of Yay America, terrorist-ass-kicking, feel-good propaganda in response to 9/11, possibly at the expense of development on another Tiberium game.
** Actually, ''Generals'' (2003) predates the two ''Battle for Middle-earth'' games, released in 2004 and 2006 respectively and was closely based on the ''Emperor: Battle for Dune'' (2001) engine. The criticism over its anti-terrorist plot is still valid, however, and we also know that a C&C3 in development at this time was cancelled, with a version by a different company (but still using the same story) eventually showing up in 2007.
* ''BreathOfFire: Dragon Quarter'' is ''Breath of Fire'' In Name Only, sharing almost nothing with its predecessors, apart from the spell nomenclature and character names. As per series tradition, the two central protagonists are named Ryu and Nina; the other two, Bosch and Lin, take their names from Bosch and [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Rinpoo]] from ''BreathOfFire II''.
** In the same vein, ''FinalFantasy'' is a "series" in name, Chocobos, and a guy named Cid only.
*** More [[TVTropesDrinkingGame egregious]] is the ''FinalFantasyLegend'' and ''FinalFantasyAdventure'' games. They were actually entirely different series (''{{SaGa}}'' and ''SeikenDensetsu'', respectively) that were renamed for American consumption. (Although to be fair, ''Adventure'' was subtitled ''Final Fantasy [[GaidenGame Gaiden]]'', but the tiny references such as a Chocobo disappeared from the rest of the Mana series).
* The ''{{Ninja Gaiden}}'' games for the Xbox have nothing to do with the NES series of the same title, save for the name of the main character. They're still very good games, even if they are NintendoHard.
** WordOfGod say they're prequels to the NES games.
** For that matter, the original ''{{Ninja Gaiden}}'' for the NES is an example of this trope. It was advertised as "THE #1 ARCADE SMASH!", about the only thing it had in common with its arcade namesake was Ryu Hayabusa's resemblance to the nameless ninja in the arcade game and the basic premise of a ninja going to America.
* Ultima 9 is so far removed from the other games in the series, that most fans consider it to be non-canonical.
* ''{{Quake}} II'' and its sequels have nothing to do with the original ''Quake'' whatsoever, apart from being {{First Person Shooter}}s, and ''Quake IV'' being a direct sequel to ''Quake II''. "''Quake II''" was originally just the game's working title, until id Software found themselves unable to find a different name they could use that wasn't already trademarked. At least ''Quake IV'' is a direct sequel to ''Quake II''.
** Don't forget ''Enemy Territory: Quake Wars'', the prequel to Quake II. Furthermore, that game is a ''gameplay'' sequel to ''Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory'' (with the ''Quake II'' universe slapped on it.).
* The ''BaldursGate: Dark Alliance'' games are ''BaldursGate'', and indeed ''ForgottenRealms'' games, in name only. They're really ''{{Diablo}}'' with the serial numbers filed off.
* After {{Infocom}}, the undisputed master of InteractiveFiction text adventures in the 1980s, went under, Activision released a CD-ROM graphic adventure called ''Return to Zork'', which had very little resemblance to the original {{Zork}} games outside the title. All the references to characters, items, and places from the original Zork universe sound painfully forced, as if the makers of the game DidNotDoTheResearch and just randomly took names and used them to fill in blanks in dialogue.
** Activision went on to release another two Zork games, ''Nemesis'' and ''Grand Inquisitor'', both of which were much better than ''Return to Zork'', were properly researched and (with a few exceptions) tied in nicely to the old games. Activision even promoted ''Grand Inquisitor'' by releasing a freeware InteractiveFiction Zork game, ''The Undiscovered Underground'', written by one of the original creators of Zork.
* The 2007 ''{{Shadowrun}}'' video game.
* ''KingsQuest 8'' is a poor man's RPG, whose only connection to the previous installments is being ostensibly set in the same location, and a couple of cameos.
* ''PhantasyStar Online'' is ''PhantasyStar'' In Name Only, for most critical points and purposes, not in the slightest connected to the Algol star system, setting for or at least critical element every previous game (including even basically disconnected side games). Then again, [[spoiler:Dark Force being ''dead for good'' in the last game kind of sealed that plot line - and the obvious way out was ''already'' explored to its end one game previous]]. Phantasy Star Universe, in turn, is ''both'' Phantasy Star Online In Name And Some Mechanics Only, and Phantasy Star In Name Only, with a muchly new setting.
* ''StarFox Adventures'' is the ''SuperMarioBros. 2'' of the series, except worse: it's not even the same genre, tacked on Arwing sections or not. That's because Nintendo [[ExecutiveMeddling asked]] Rare to slap the ''Star Fox'' universe on their then in-development and completely unrelated N64 game ''Dinosaur Planet'' just because it has furries.
** Ironically, there's an ''unintentional'' example with the same series. ''StarFox'' is completely unrelated to ''Star Fox'', an almost universally derided Atari 2600 game released a decade before. And it was that which was why Nintendo had to market the first two games involving Fox and the crew under different titles in Europe. The irony is, of course, the other ''Star Fox'' [[NoExportForYou wasn't released in Europe]].
* ''{{Fallout}}: Brotherhood of Steel'' is ''Fallout'' InNameOnly. Interplay took a clone of their ''DarkAlliance'' console action games and slapped on the name of their ground-breaking series of open-world [=RPGs=]. The company had just sacked the entire studio that masterminded the original series, and the new developers [[TheyJustDidntCare just didn't care]] about staying faithful. They took a wrecking ball to the canon and filled the game with toilet humor instead. Not surprisingly, no one was interested in the result, and the company soon tanked.
* [[http://pc.ign.com/articles/922/922038p1.html As noted by the IGN reviewer]], the plot of ''FarCry 2'' is not connected to that of ''FarCry'', although he also notes that this does not detract from its merits.
** The ExpandedUniverse novels try to RetCon this by introducing a character that ''supposedly'' served as a mentor to both the protagonist and [[FarCry Jack Carver]]. Riiiiiight.
* Does anyone truly know what the new ''CrashBandicoot'' games have in common with the originals?
** The exact same thing can be said about the ''SpyroTheDragon'' games. However, at least the new ''CrashBandicoot'' games make throwbacks to the older titles regularly. The Legend of Spyro series' excuse is that it's a ContinuityReboot.
* ''LeisureSuitLarry: Magna Cum Laude'' and ''Box Office Bust'' are mostly a separate series from the Al Lowe series, apart from being set in the same world. The Larry here is different (though related to the previous one), the gameplay is completely different, and the connections to the Al Lowe games feel sort of tacked on.
* An ongoing [[BrokenBase fandom debate]] revolves around whether ''[[SilentHill Silent Hill 4: The Room]]'' is such a sequel, as it was originally intended as a separate title. On the one hand, Team Silent did make the game, it was turned into a Silent Hill project early in development, and there's no denying the similar concepts and atmosphere. On the other hand, most of the in-depth story connections to the rest of the series were only added later via an [[AllThereInTheManual official Konami website]], in [[NoExportForYou Japanese]], making their canonical value debatable.
* The EA FPS ''GoldenEye: Rogue Agent'' was seen by many as a weak attempt to capitalize on the much revered ''Goldeneye 007'' for the Nintendo 64: the only connection to the movie/game is the presence of Xenia Onatopp and the "Uplink" multiplayer level. The only justification for the name "[=GoldenEye=]" is that you play as a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin rogue MI6 agent]] that gets his eye shot out and is given a golden prosthetic replacement by [[TheManWithTheGoldenGun Francisco Scaramanga]]. The rest of the game involves you being a pawn in a war between [[{{Goldfinger}} Auric Goldfinger]] and [[DrNo Dr. No]] and fighting a bunch of iconic Bond villains in a pretty generic FPS. The only appearance by Bond lasts 10 seconds and is revealed to be a simulation.
* ''TotalAnnihilation: Kingdoms'' was nothing like ''Total Annihilation'' at all. Different universe, different playstyles... everything except the graphics engine was completely different.
* Is {{Rayman}} even '''in''' the ''Raving Rabbids'' games?
** Michel Ancel took note of that fact and will make the next Rabbid game, an adventure game for once, Rayman-less.
* ''[[{{Alundra}} Alundra II]]'' has nothing to do with the original.
* ''Street Fighter 2010: The Final Fight'' was a futuristic platform game for the NES that really didn't have much to do with the original ''{{Street Fighter}}'' other than its title. The localization team attempted to establish a connection by claiming that the main character Kevin, a cyborg policeman, was actually Ken from the first ''Street Fighter'' 25 years in the future.
* ''[[{{Contra}} Contra Force]]'' for the NES is a localization of an unreleased-in-Japan Famicom game titled ''Arc Hound''. The game has nothing to do with the rest of the ''Contra'' series, being set in present times with human enemies instead of aliens. The American localization of ''Contra III'' for the SNES did try to make a connection by establishing in the manual that the first stage of the game was actually Neo City, the setting of ''Contra Force''.
* ''{{Final Fantasy XII}}'' is a disputed case of this. It made enormous changes to the battle system, scrapped or altered most of the recurring themes from other games, and had a far more somber, political theme than its predecessors.
** Of course, it's almost exactly like FFXI, if FFXI was a single player game. But everyone seems to ignore that one, for some reason.
*** Not to mention this is a series of games known for being different from each other with only names of characters, monsters, and spells in common.
* ''ChronoCross'' is a sequel in name only to ''ChronoTrigger''. The battle system is completely different, the world is almost unrelated, and the links connecting it to Trigger feel tacked on at best.
** Having said that, it is a remake / canon replacement to ''Radical Dreamers'', which ''was'' a direct sequel. (OrSoIHeard. NoExportForYou, and this troper doesn't speak Japanese, so hearsay will have to do.)
** Interestingly enough, some of the developers have stated that ''ChronoCross'' was actually not a sequel. It "Takes where chrono Trigger left off and continues, it is not a sequel". Right...isn't that kind of the ''definition'' of the word "Sequel" in the first place? Or was ''ChronoCross'' MisBlamed as a sequel when it was really a GaidenGame?
* The GameBoyAdvance version of ''[[{{Shinobi}} The Revenge of Shinobi]]'' has absolutely nothing to do the original Genesis game and is pretty much a generic Ninja game with ''Shinobi'' on the title.
* {{Fallout 3}} is considered to fit this trope by some of the [[{{TheyChangedItNowItSucks}} more rabid fans]]. They may have a point though - despite the fact the game features nearly all the iconic factions, critters and weapons from the original games, it transplants them [[{{TheyJustDidntCare}} thoughtlessly]] to the other side of the continent. Kinda like trying to sell your audience that a movie is set in California because you photoshopped the Golden Gate into the Reflecting Pool in West Potomac Park.
** For those that haven't played the Fallout games, allow this troper to explain. In Fallout 2, the Enclave was based on an offshore oil rig, and they required a coastal refueling station just to get their vertibirds (helicopters, their only means of transportation) to the inland side of California. Then, at the end of the game, you [[spoiler:blow up their oil rig with a nuke]]. How the hell did they manage, then, to get set up in Washington D.C., just as strong as they were in California? Furthermore, why couldn't they have been creative enough to come up with a new villain, just as Fallout 1 and 2 had different villains? The Brotherhood of Steel are another major faction; but in Fallout 2, it is explained that they are on the decline, and it is a matter of plot that they have no transportation more high-tech than a covered wagon. Yet they, too, end up having a major base in Washington D.C. There is also a recurring character, Harold the ghoul, who despite being the leader of a town in Fallout 2, ends up in Washington D.C. somehow. But I guess he could have just walked. . .
* ''Actraiser 2'': it has a slightly beefed-up reworking of the 2D platform sections, with new maps and enemies, and... that’s the entire game. No colonisation sim, no levelling up or discovering new abilities, and certainly none of the varied gameplay that made the original ''Actraiser'' stand out.
* ''Shining Force CD'', an EnhancedRemake of the first two ShiningForce GaidenGames doesn't have a whole lot to do with the first ''ShiningForce'' game. The third one, however, is a completely different story, starring the main character of the first game's nephew and setting the stage for ''Shining Force 2''.
** Can someone tell me what ''Shining The Holy Ark'' has to do with ''ShiningForce''? Or stuff like ''Shining Tears'', ''Shining In The Darkness'' or ''Shining Soul''? Other than a few of the same developers?
* With a few exceptions, many ''[[TalesSeries Tales of]]'' games are InNameOnly with each other.
* Westwood's ''Dune II'' RTS game had very little to do with the book, movie, or the first game. This troper would argue that Westwood didn't read the book when making this game. It did not capture the Dune spirit. The later remake ''Dune 2000'' and sequel ''Emperor: Battle For Dune'' tried a bit harder, but it still doesn't change the fact that ''Dune II'' is an RTS, and a completely different genre from the original ''Dune'' game.
* ''Star Raiders II'' (Atari Corp's 1986 sequel to the pioneering 1979 original) started life as a never-released [[LicensedGame license]] based on 1984 movie TheLastStarfighter. Some time later it was reworked into a Star Raiders sequel instead, to generally positive reviews. (Though even with the changes it was generally felt to be more "arcadey" and less strategic than the first SR.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Sites]]
* [=KidsWB.com=], supposedly the relaunched version of the programming block from which it got its name, is more like a website for pre-1997 CartoonNetwork.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Over time, the comic ''{{Concession}}'' changed drastically due to the PlotTumor of Joel's revenge plot (and college life) to the point where the Concession stand in the title was merely where ''some'' of the cast worked, not the actual focus of the comic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The 1999 animated ''The King and I'' retained most of the Rodgers and Hammerstein score and the most basic premise (a genteel British widow goes to Siam to educate the king's children and culture clash ensues), but in turning into a kid's film, almost laughably incongruous elements were added, including sentient animal sidekicks and an evil wizard (in the form of the Kralahome, a minor character in the original play) who attempts to usurp the king's throne via magic. The result is that the film less resembles the culture study the original was and more seems like a knockoff of Disney's ''Aladdin''.
** ''The King and I'' also forms the basis of a ''FamilyGuy'' parody of this trope. By the time Peter gets finished rewriting the Rodgers and Hammerstein script, it's changed from a British tutor dealing with the king of Siam to a ninja robot in the future ("A.N.N.A.") battling a post-apocalyptic dictator. Initially furious at the changes, and at the audience's approval of them, Lois later admits that "anyone who could take ''The King and I'' and turn it into, well, that, has gotta be creative."
* In some markets at least, the Jetix series ''A.T.O.M.'' is being promoted as part of the ''Action Man'' franchise (granted, you've probably never even heard of that, but still...).
** That's because the toy line on which it's (supposedly) based IS a continuation of the ''Action Man'' toy line.
* Parodied in ''TheSimpsons'', where AlanMoore is said to have had a run as the writer of Radioactive Man. During his tenure, he changed the title character, a [[TheCape cape]] with super-strength acquired from [[ILoveNuclearPower exposure to a nuclear explosion]], into "a heroin-addicted jazz critic who's '''not''' radioactive". Bart didn't notice.
* I dare to say that ''[[{{WITCH}} W.I.T.C.H.]]'' is such a case: the cartoon show threw out the melancholic and philosophic tone of the comic and made it a standart barbie-girl show à la ''WinxClub''. Personalities were either [[{{Flanderization}} flanderized]] or completely changed and the story only took some basics from the comic, but rewrote everything else. Season two did it a little bit better, but, still season one appealed to everyone BUT the fans of the original comic...
* ''SonicUnderground''. The only things from the games are Sonic, Robotnik, and a few appearances by Knuckles.
** SatamSonicTheHedgehog also fits the bill. Aside from Sonic, Robotnik, a few token appearences by Tails, and the rings, there wasn't much to tie it to the games.
** Arguably AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog also counts, although it does borrow a little more from the games than either of the two aforementioned titles.
* ''{{Voltron}}'' fans back in the day felt this way when the Lion series ended and they first saw Vehicle Voltron. The reason for this is because it is actually a DolledUpInstallment of a completely unrelated anime series.
* ''TomAndJerry: TheMovie'' actually starts out pretty faithfully for a little while. Then they [[SuddenlyVoiced start talking]]. ''Then'' they start ''[[NoJustNo singing]]''...
** Not to mention the plot kind of drifts away from them and focuses on the orphan girl Robyn and they are [[DemotedToExtra reduced to sidekicks]].
* The 1997 animated film ''{{Anastasia}}'' was supposedly "based on" the play by Marcel Maurette. DonBluth turned it into a musical with Rasputin as an undead sorcerer with a talking bat sidekick, among other changes. (The play had already been faithfully adapted to a 1956 film starring Yul Brynner and Ingrid Bergman.)
* Disney's ''TheJungleBook'' bears little resemblance to Kipling's original except for a few character names and the basic premise of a boy RaisedByWolves. Mowgli is changed from a NobleSavage to a BrattyHalfPint, the monkeys do'nt die, Baloo goes from wise mentor to "shiftless jungle bum", and the originally benevolent Kaa becomes a IneffectualSympatheticVillain. An early draft that stuck closer to the tone of the books was rejected for being too dark.
** Course, trying to adapt the ''entire'' Jungle book into a single film would result in an epically huge movie most children wouldnt' be able to sit still through.
** Legend has it that WaltDisney actually told his staff to "throw away" the novel and work from scratch.
* ''The Jungle Book'' ain't got nothin' on ''TheFoxAndTheHound'', though. How Walt Disney Studios managed to look at what reads like a fictionalized documentary about the life and times of a mongrel hunting dog and a human-reared wild fox who live through bear hunts, rabies epidemics, and the rise of suburbia among other things and thought it would make a wonderful talking animals musical about racism is a mystery for the ages.
* The cartoon ''Ghostbusters'' had nothing to do with the movie ''Ghostbusters'', but was a followup to the 1970s live action TV series ''TheGhostBusters'', although it definitely intended to ride the coattails of the more familiar movie. The cartoon based on the movie is thus called ''TheRealGhostbusters''.
* ''TheSecretOfNIMH'' basically took the "super smart rats" premise and made an entirely different movie where [[WallBanger Nicodemus is Dumbledore]], and the deserter was a murderer.
* The 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon pretty much took EVERYTHING from the original comics and flipped it on it's head. Whilst the comics were aimed at those in their mid-late teens, the show was cheesy entertainment for kids. The personalities of the characters were changed quite a bit (Raphael was a jokester instead of an anger-laden badass) and the premise was made FAR more into Sci-Fi than anything seen in the comics (considering some of them included aliens and the main characters are mutant reptilians, that says something). Another thing to note is that in the comics, the 'Ninja' part of the title was actually relevant to what the Turtles activities were (moved around at night, stayed out of sight of as many bystanders as possible and actually fighting other ninjas), whereas in the 80's cartoon they were known to the general public, had no problem walking around in daylight and spent the majority of their time fighting robots.
** Tell that to [[FanDumb the people who claim this is the original Ninja Turtles series and that the newer series (which is even closer to the original comic book) sucks because it's not like "the real turtles"]].
* The cartoon ''Wayside'' only has a passing resemblance to the ''WaysideSchool'' book series [[SuggestedBy it is ostensibly based on]].
* ''MartinMystery'' was drastically different from the comics they were adapted from. For example, changing "Mystere" to "Mystery" and changing Martin's lover into his ''stepsister''. (Oh, and making him like 15 years younger)
* Who remembers the Animated Titanic outside of the NostalgiaCritic, anyone? Anyone? Maybe it's best you don't, then.
* ''{{Daria}}'' was a spinoff series spawned from a side character in ''BeavisAndButthead''. Some people actually thought this was the case, especially when the title character and her family moved to a different town and only mentioned Highland Texas (Which ''BeavisAndButthead'' was set in) in the first episode. (As having "Uranium in the drinking water") Part of this of course was more or less with how Mike Judge didn't have a whole lot to do with the creation of Daria.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Until recently, liberal Senator Lincoln Chafee was referred to as a Republican in Name Only (RINO) and hawkish Senator Joe Lieberman as a Democrat in Name Only (DINO). Both eventually left their parties and became independents -- Chafee after leaving office, Lieberman after losing his party's primary for reelection. (Lieberman went on to beat the Democratic nominee and be reelected, and continues to caucus with the Democrats.) Then there's Arlen Specter, who throughout his career has been ''everything'' in name only - he started his political career as a Democrat, joined the Republican party in 1966, and switched his alliance back to the Democrats in 2009, and throughout the whole time has generally been an independent-minded moderate.
* Really, the whole Republican and Democratic parties are like this compared to their original purposes:
** The Republican party was founded by northern abolitionists, people who wanted to dramatically reform the nation's economy but now would do anything keep the status quo, but with fewer taxes.
** The Democratic party, originally the Democratic Republicans, were founded in 1792 to oppose those who wanted a strong federal government, and were very conservative, which is why they opposed the Republican Party prior to the Civil War.
* The "{{Goth}}" subculture bears absolutely no resemblance to the Germanic tribes of the same name. They are related by the term "gothic", which originated as a description for a style of architecture that was initially meant to be derogatory because of its relation to said tribe. Basically, in its original context, calling something "gothic" was the same as calling it "barbaric".
** Hence why you'll occasionally see [[IncrediblyLamePun quips]] like "If you're so goth, where were you when we sacked Rome?"
** This must confuse the crap out of most people who see Grant Wood's ''AmericanGothic''.
*** Unless they know that the painting's title refers to the architectural style (note the shape of the window).
** [[DidNotDoTheResearch Gothic subculture also bears little resemblance to]] [[MyImmortal whatever the hell Enoby is.]]
* China has moved so far to a market economy in recent years, despite the authoritarianism remaining, that they termed their system "Socialism with Chinese characteristics", which is political speak for "communism in name only".
** A correct name would be "Capitalist Single Party Dictatorship".
* The Holy Roman Empire -- Neither Holy (the emperor was not crowned from 1530 to 1806), nor Roman (Germanic, and Rome was rarely if never within its borders), nor an Empire (more like a collection of small states which joined forces; the leaders of those small kingdoms actually formed an electoral congress to elect their emperor). The Holy Roman Empire only considered itself a SpiritualSuccessor to the original Roman Empire.
* When done with a new model of a car that bears no resemblance physically or spiritually to previous models, this is referred to as "jacking up the nameplate." Short for "Jacking up the nameplate sliding a new car underneath it."
** Exemplified by the 2004 Pontiac GTO "revival," which was a re-badged Holden Monaro. It wasn't well-received, and other muscle car revivals (like the new Ford Mustang or Dodge Charger) buried it within two years.
*** The Holden Monaro is actually an excellent car, and the later [=GTOs=] with 400-horsepower LS2 engines will blow the doors off a Mustang, but they suffered from bland '90s-looking styling. The next generation of V8 Holdens came to the States with four doors in the form of the Pontiac G8 and became an instant hit, [[WallBanger but GM decided to axe Pontiac and the G8 but keep Buick and the most worthless marque in automotive history, GMC.]] Buick can be explained by [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff Chinese Love Buicks]], but ''GMC''?
** Also noteworthy are the modern VW 'Beetle' (more like a Golf with a jelly-mould on top) and the suddenly gigantic BMW version of the 'Mini'.
*** The new Mini is very small by modern car standards. A real four-seat car the size of the original Mini would have no room for modern safety features and would be illegal in most of the world. There's a reason why the Smart [=ForTwo=] is around the same size as the original Mini but has only two seats and a smaller engine. Also, a European car based on the Mini's original role of an extremely cheap, basic, mass-produced car for the masses would fail because such a car is no longer needed in the target markets and because it would be too expensive to compete with Korean, Chinese, and other Third World cars. The Tata Nano is the closest thing to an original Mini as can possibly be built in modern times--and it is ''still'' several inches longer than the original Mini and downright dangerous to drive at the high speeds of American and European highways.
* The "[[DanBrowned historical accuracy]]" of ''[[SoBadItsHorrible FATAL]]''. The [[strike: author]] perpetrator openly admitted that it was only accurate on the grounds that ''history didn't happen like it did in real life''.
* Anyone who's listened to Camille Paglia drone on about how women deserve to be raped, the glory of masculinity, and her embrace of pornography and prostitution as "progress" quickly realizes that Paglia is a Feminist in Name Only.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Religon]]
*This is OlderThanFeudalism. [[TheBible Jesus warned]] that people would pretend to serve Him, but actually be forging His signature on their own self-will.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* The ''{{Wicked}}'' musical can be described as this. It takes a [[DarkerAndEdgier dark]], edgy, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids adult]] novel, enhanced the [[WordOfGay books]] {{LesYay}} and makes it not so edgy. Though, it follows a similar outline from the book..''Similar''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:{{Music}}]]
* GunsNRoses. Actually, they have been In Name Only since 1985, two months after LA Guns and Hollywood Rose merged, when Axl Rose fired all the former LA Guns members (making the name of the band confusing) and replaced them with Slash, Duff [=McKagan=], and Steven Adler. And now it is ''that'' band In Name Only, because, except for FaceOfTheBand Rose, everyone in that lineup left the band by 1997; and besides, the band's style shifted more toward industrial metal than plain old hard rock.
* Motown Records. In the 1960s, it was one of the biggest companies in music with popular African-American artists such as the Supremes, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, and the Temptations. After many shifts in style and its purchase by MCA (who then sold it to [=PolyGram=], later merged into Universal Music), Motown Records has become completely different from what it used to be. In fact, except for Stevie Wonder, everyone on the Motown artist roster is ''white''.
* Pretty much ''any'' instrumental mix of a song which remains credited to the original singer, even when that person had no artistic input beyond their singing in the first place (which, of course, no longer appears!) Examples might include [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMDnA--eocc this]] vocal-less mix of KylieMinogue's early hit "I Should Be So Lucky" (back when she was still a puppet of the Stock Aitken Waterman "hit factory"); she neither wrote, nor apparently appears on this mix of the song, but it's still credited to her(!)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:New Media]]
* There is a ''FlashGordon'' comics series available for the iPhone, and probably other portables. Flash is a former CIA operative, and Dale a current one; they know each other from the Agency, and Dr. Zarkohv is a close friend of Flash. He's also considered a terrorist, and believed to be creating WMDs. [[{{Whitewings}} This troper]] downloaded the (free) first issue, and deleted it, then for hopefully obvious reasons, chose not to download the second and subsequent issues.
[[/folder]]
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